Firearm supports are utilized to eliminate artifact attributable to human movement during the firing of the firearm. The accuracy and consistency of a firearm may be determined by using a firearm support to eliminate human movement during shooting. As most modern firearms are mass-produced with interchangeable parts that have a range of acceptable tolerances, accurizing an individual firearm can significantly improve its accuracy. The goal of accurizing a firearm is to improve the consistency of firing each projectile (e.g., ammunition). The accuracy and consistency of a firearm are typically determined by placing the firearm in a shooting support, firing several shots at a target, and measuring the distance between the two holes that are spaced apart by the largest distance (i.e., the group size). Firearm supports may also be used in a similar manner to determine the accuracy differences between similar firearms and may be used to test the accuracy of the ammunition, and various makes of ammunition, used in the firearm.
A conventional shooting support for testing a firearm 12 is shown in FIG. 1. A shooting rest 10 (otherwise known as a ransom rest) includes a base 16 and a pivot arm 14 attached to the base 16. The pivot arm 14 is pivotable about an axis Z. A spring 18 having a longitudinal axis along the axis Z is attached to the base 16 and the pivot arm 14. A triggering mechanism 20 is attached to the pivot arm 14. When a shooter actuates the triggering mechanism 20 and discharges the firearm 12, the recoil of the firearm 12 pivots the pivot arm 14 and the firearm 12 rotationally about the axis Z from the firing position to a recoil position in which the firearm 12 is aimed upward. The spring 18 slows and eventually stops the rotation of the pivot arm 14 and the firearm 12 about the axis Z so that the pivot arm 14 and the firearm 12 remain in the recoil position. After discharge, the shooter manually pivots the pivot arm 14 and the firearm 12 from the recoil position back to the firing position to discharge another shot.
The conventional shooting rest 10 shown in FIG. 1 is generally limited in use to the testing of handguns. The shooting rest 10 uses specially formed grip panels that are custom made to fit each style of handgun and may only be used with handguns that can fit in the custom-made grip panels. Similarly, other shooting supports designed to hold a firearm larger than a handgun are generally limited to only accommodating certain types of firearms as well. One such example of a shooting support for a rifle is illustrated by the gun sighting apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,385 to Culver. Culver describes an apparatus for adjusting gun sights, particularly telescopic sights on rifles. The rifle is mounted upon and rigidly clamped to a gun support including a pair of spaced cradles. One cradle supports the barrel of the rifle and the other cradle supports the butt of the rifle stock.